Lalou Bize-Leroy

Lalou Bize-Leroy, born 1932 as Marcelle Leroy is a female French winery owner in the Burgundy wine region.^[1] Mrs. Bize-Leroy is the owner of the wineries Domaine d'Auvenay and Domaine Leroy.

Biography

Lalou established herself as a businesswoman in the Burgundy wine business in 1955, when she took over her father Henri Leroy's (1894–1980) négociant business.^[1][2] From 1974, she was co-managing the Burgundy winery Domaine de la Romanée-Conti (DRC), one of the world's top wine estates, and was in charge of marketing. Along with Aubert de Villaine, Bize-Leroy helped build DRC's top wine Romanée-Conti into one of the most sought after wines in the world. A series of disagreements, including Bize-Leroy's displeasure at de Villaine's involvement in the Judgment of Paris wine tasting and disputes over Bize-Leroy's handling of the distribution of the Domaine's wines, led to her being ousted in 1992.^[3][4]

After leaving DRC, she has focused on her own domains. Already in 1988, she had acquired significant vineyard holdings for Domaine Leroy. During the 1990s, she established Domaine Leroy as one of the leading Burgundy wineries.^[2]

Lalou Leroy married Marcel Bize (d.2004),in 1958 and have one daughter Perrine Fenal. Lalou also had a sister Pauline Roch (1929-2009).

Wine philosophy

Lalou Bize-Leroy is a strong believer in biodynamic wine production, and practices it in her domaines.

References